Lawn mower



Sept 27, 1932- s. RoToNDo ETAL 393399154 LAWN MowER- Filed' Feb. 25. A1931 2 sheets-sheet 1 Sept. 27, 1932. s. ROTONDO E'r AL LAWN MOWER Filed Feb. 25. 1931 2 Shee-CS-Sheet mwn.

,-/qllorney Patented Sept. 27, 1932 UNITED s'ra'rras "PATENT OFFICE SEBASTIANO ROTONDO AND lANTHONY ROTONDO, F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK LAWN MOWEE Application ledl'ebruary 25, 1981. Serial No. 518,196.

It is a further object ofthe invention to provide a hand propelled lawn mower which will eifectively cut tall grass and other vegetables grown without choking or clogging the machine. v

It is a further object of the invention so to construct the machine that the grass which is severed during the cutting operation can in no way clog or otherwise affect the driving mechanism of the cutting element.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a machine of the aforementioned character which is highly eflicientin operation, economical to manufacture, and which will have but few working parts.

With the above and other objects in view, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein;

Figure 1 isv a perspective view of a machine constructed in accordance ,with the present invention,

.30 Figure 2 isv a transverse sectional view taken through the housing scale,

Y Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 2,

Figure Liis a diagrammatic view of the cutting elements showing their arrangement in one of their operating positions,

Figure 5 is a similar on an enlarged v1ew-showing the cutting blades in another of their operating positions, and; v

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional'view taken on the line 6 6 of Fi re A3.

Referring to the rawings by reference character,10'designates a housing and this or the like 11 at the Ifront and a single transversely extending roller 12 at the rear thereof. A suitable handle 13 is employed for propelling the device over the surface to be cut, and s'aid handle may be connected to the top 5a wall of the housing by means of arms, brackets or the like 14. o. The housing 10 comprises a substantially rectangular frame'like member 15 the front wall of which is open. The topl of the hous- Y ing 10 may be closed by a top wall 16 which is secured in position by means of screws or other suitable fastenings 17 which pass through the top wall 16 and engage the side walls of the housing. The top wall 16 has no an angularly disposed downwardly extended portion 18 and extending rearwardly from this portion', there is a wall 19 which partiallycloses the bottom of the rectangular frame 15 of the housing as best illustrated in Fi 65 ure 2. This structure including the top wa l 16, the downwardly inclined wall 18 and the bottom wall 19 provides a member which is substantially U-shaped in form and within which the housing 10 or in other words the 70 frame 15 forming the housing 10 is adapted to be received.

The downwardly inclined portion 18 heretofore mentioned is provided with a pluralit of relatively largeslots .or'the like 22 whic 75 'construction provides projecting teeth 23 which are adapted to receive `the material to be cut and sepa-rate the same into cuffs or bunches in upstanding relation in order that it may bepresented in this manner to the cutting elements which will be hereinafter described. As best illustrated in Figure 2, these slits extend partially through the bottom wall l19 of the frame like member and it is over this portion of the slots 22 that the cutting 35 elements'rotate in a manner to be hereinafter described. y

Extending substantially the entire length -of the housing'lO, there i's a partition 30 and 'l p said partition may bey secured in position'` at lli ` one of which is adapted to contain the cutting elements, the other compartments being arranged to receive the driving mechanism of the cutting elements.

Each cutting element consists of a knife or the like having an offset portion 36 and projecting from the offset portion 36 of each knife, there is a stud shaft or the like 37. The

partition 30 is provided with a thickened portionl 38 which forms a bearing or bearings for the several stud shafts 37 of the cutting elements and thus provides the means for mounting said cutting elements in the partition 30. Each of theselstud shafts carries a gear 4() and the gears are secured to their respective stud shafts by means of bolts, screws or the like 41. The several gears 40 inter-mesh with one another and thus it will be apparent that as one of said gears is driven the entire train will be driven and the knives 35 will be rotated. The knives 35 and their offset 1S portion 36 permit of the knives overlapping one another as shown in Figure 6 of the drawings thus permitting free passage of the knives by one another and providing a cutting operation of the knives over the entire area over which the machine travels by reason ofthe fact that the cutting zone of each knife overlies the cutting zone of each adjacent knife.

Means is provided to drive the cutting elements, and in the present embodiment of the.

invention this means consists of an electric motor carried by the top wall 16 and having a downwardly extending shaft 51 upon the lower end of which there 1s secured a gear 1 52 by means of a set screw or the like 53.

This gear 52 meshes with one of the gears 4.0 of the knives 35, and it will thus be apparent that when the motor is operated, the gear 52 will be rotated and by reason of its enga e- 'zt ment with one of the gears 40, the entire train of gears 40 will be driven with the result that the knives 35 will be rotated over the lower portion of the fingers 23 and thus sever the grass or other material `which lies in the 'i spaces 22 betweensaid fingers.

The material out rides up the incl-ined wall 18 and passes over the machine and any portion thereof which ma enter the lower housing which houses the blade 35, is thrown to the rear thereof by the blades where it is discharged through the opening provided by the termination of the rear end of the member 19.

A bracket 60 is secured as at 61 tothe top wall 16 and this bracket extends forwardly and downwardly toa position in front ofthe teeth 23. In the lower end of the bracket 60, a roller 62 is mounted and. is adapted to engage the surface over which-the machine is moved durin operation thereof. Thus, if the machine, uring operation is passed over a raised portion in the surface, the roller by its engagement therewith, will elevate the cutting blades so that they do notengage said raised portion as would be the case if the roller 62 were not employed.

From the fore oing it will be apparent that the present invention provides a hand propelled lawn mower in which a pluralit of rotary blades are power driven. Furt ermore, the invention provides a lawn mower which will sever tall grass, weeds and the like an operation of which the conventional type.

of lawn mower is not capable.

While the invention has been herein illustrated in a preferred form, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific construction herein shown, and that it may be racticed in other forms without departing rom the spirit thereof.

Havlng thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and what it is desired to secure by Letters Patent of the United States,

1. A mowing device of the class described comprising a substantially rectangular shaped housing including sides, an end member, a top member, a forwardly and downwardly sloping front member and a bottom member extending rearwardly from the lower edge of the front member to a point .Y

spaced forwardly from the lower edge of the rear member, said front member and the front part of the bottom member having vertically arranged slots therein spaced apart, the slots in the bottom member forming continuations of the slots in the front member, roller means connected to the housing for supportin the same in spaced relation from the groun an arm connected to the central part of the top portion of the housing and extending forwardly and downwardly, a roller at the forward end of said arm for contacting the ground, cutting means located in the forward part of the housing and located slightly a ove the front portion of the bottom member whereby the said cutting means will cut the material extending through the slots in thefront and bottom members, the material entering the housing passin rearwardly therethrough and dropping t rough the opening formed by the rear end of the bottom member and the lower edge of the rear member. n

2. In a mowin device of the class described, a member aving slots in its forward part, a supporting member, a plurality of vertically arranged shafts j ournalled in said supporting member, a cutting member carried by each shaft, each cutting member com- 

